WASHINGTON >> President Barack Obama wants to see more police wearing cameras to help build trust between the public and police by recording such events as the shooting death of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., but is not seeking to pull back federal programs that provide the type of military-style equipment used to dispel the resulting racially charged protests there.

The White House announced the conclusions of a three-month review Monday as the president was holding a series of meetings with his Cabinet, civil rights leaders, law enforcement officials and others to go over the findings. At least for now, Obama is staying away from Ferguson in the wake of a racially charged uproar over a grand jury’s decision last week not to charge Darren Wilson, the police officer who fatally shot Brown.

“The president and his administration are very focused on the underlying issues that have been uncovered in a pretty raw way in Ferguson,” said White House press secretary Josh Earnest. But he wouldn’t say if additional training of Ferguson police would have resulted in different outcome in there.

Obama is proposing a three-year, $263 million spending package to increase use of body-worn cameras, expand training for law enforcement and add more resources for police department reform. The package includes $75 million to help pay for 50,000 of the small lapel-mounted cameras to record police on the job, with state and local governments paying half the cost. The FBI estimates there were just under 700,000 police officers in the U.S. in 2011.

The White House has said the cameras could help bridge deep mistrust between law enforcement and the public. It also potentially could help resolve the type of disputes between police and witnesses that arose in the Ferguson shooting.

After the shooting and resulting protests in August, Obama ordered a review of federal programs that fund military gear for local police when critics questioned why police in full body armor with armored trucks responded to dispel demonstrators.

Obama seemed to sympathize when announcing the review. “There is a big difference between our military and our local law enforcement, and we don’t want those lines blurred,” he said at the time.

Earnest said the president does not want to repeal the programs that are authorized by Congress because they have proven useful in many cases, citing the response to the Boston Marathon bombing.

“But it is not clear that there is a consistency with regard to the way that these programs are implemented, structured and audited, and that’s something that needs to be addressed,” Earnest said.

The White House review shows the wide scope of the programs — $18 billion in the past five years from five federal agencies, including the departments of Defense, Justice, Homeland Security and Treasury, plus the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The report said about 460,000 pieces of controlled property are in the hands of local police, including 92,442 small arms, 44,275 night-vision devices, 5,235 Humvees, 617 mine-resistant vehicles and 616 aircraft.

Obama’s staff is drafting an executive order that will require federal agencies that run the programs to work with law enforcement and civil rights and civil liberties organizations to recommend changes within four months.

Demands for police to wear the cameras have increased across the country since Brown’s death. The Los Angeles Police Department has had a pilot program in effect for the past year. Police Commissioner Steve Soboroff and City Councilman Mitchell Englander are among those who voiced support for the technology.

Soboroff said he sees the cameras as a way to show the reality of how officers perform their jobs and reduce liability payouts by the department.

And last September, Englander cited a study noting that in the Rialto Police Department, complaints against the department dropped by 88 percent and use of force by some 60 percent after officers began using the cameras.

The LAPD recently decided to award a contract to Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Taser International to supply the body cameras to all patrol officers. In two phases of the pilot program, patrol officers field-tested equipment from Taser as well as from Houston-based Coban Technologies Inc.

Taser was selected in part for its cloud-based video storage system.

The cameras are about the size of a pack of cigarettes and, though they will likely be worn on an officer’s shirt front, lapel- and sunglass-mounted models were also tried. Before the cameras can be put into daily use, the Police Commission will need to adopt policies on their use and resolve privacy concerns.

The program is being funded with a $1 million donation from the Los Angeles Police Foundation.

LAPD spokesman Cmdr. Andrew Smith said they will explore whether the city is eligible for any federal funds to offset the local cost in acquiring the cameras. Under the Obama program, the federal government would match up to 50 percent of what municipalities can provide.

The department hopes to begin its rollout of the cameras in the second quarter of 2015, he noted.

A report from the Justice Department, which had been in the works before the Ferguson shooting, said there’s evidence both police and civilians behave better when they know there are cameras around. It also cites how footage from the cameras can be used to train officers.

Obama plans to sign an executive order to create the Task Force on 21st Century Policing, made up of law enforcement and community leaders who would examine ways to reduce crime while maintaining public trust.

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